Huntington Beach Pier
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2012 Reading List
I’m still going strong with my 2012 reading goal and just finished up The Passage (which should really count as two books since it comes in at almost 750 pages). Somewhere along the way I discovered that I really like books that are: 1) Set in some sort of post-apocalyptic waste land; 2) Survival stories; 3) Include zombies (or in this case vampires). A book doesn’t need to include all three but if it does I’m hooked, and this book had all three. I really didn’t like the ending of this book at all and felt like it was a huge let down – I had committed to 700+ pages and I deserved a decent ending. Then I learned that the book is actually part of a trilogy and the crappy ending was magically transformed into a cliff hanger!
Iris
First came the daffodils, then came the tulips, now on to the irises!
Cannon Beach, OR
A beautiful sunny birthday weekend at the coast. Last weekend we spent two nights relaxing at the coast, reading on the beach, and drinking a little too much booze.
Birthday Cake
I made a cake last weekend for Nick’s birthday. When I was at the store buying ingredients I called home to see if we had any cake pans.
Me: Do we have any cake pans?
Nick: I don’t think so.
Me: Could you look?
Nick: Where?
Me: In the drawer under the stove?
Nick: I don’t see any?
Me: Are you sure?
Nick: Yes. We have no cake pans.
I picked up two at the store and come home to find – 5 cake pans!!! So now I could make a 14 layer cake if I was so inclined.
I found this recipe from Martha Stewart for a Chocolate Cake with Malted Chocolate Ganache and Toasted Marshmallow Frosting. The toasted marshmallow seemed like to much work so it got the axe and the ganache got doubled. Plus who doesn’t like extra ganache? The ganache was delicious and oh so easy to make. However, I did have a hard time finding malted milk. I tried a number of different grocery stores and even made phone calls but the only thing I could find was barely malt and Oveltine (which was not going to happen). I settled on the Barley Malt and it imparted a slight malty taste but not like I had hoped for and it also became a sticky mess whenever it came in contact with liquid.
I cut both cakes in half to make four layers and the end result was a deliciously dense chocolate cake that I would make again.
My Pride and Joy
My Lemon Tree!
I received this tree two years ago for my birthday and last winter, it’s first Pacific NW winter, I nearly killed it. All that was left were two measly leafs. All summer I nursed it back to health and at the end of the summer I reaped the fruits of my labor – one miniature lemon the size of a pea. This year I did my research, moved it inside well before the first frost, kept it in a south-facing window away from the central heating system, watered it regularly and misted the leafs daily. In December, she bloomed fully and smelled wonderful. I didn’t lose a single leaf this year and the tree actually grew new leafs and branches over the winter!
I moved her outside last week but I’ve missed having her in the house to constantly check in on and monitor the growth. There are three blossoms that I pollinated and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this year will be the year we actually get fruit.
2012 Reading List
So far this year I have read:
Good but I liked Middlesex better.
A book club book.
It was fine but a little too much “Boo hoo I used to be ‘fat’ and now I’m hot.”
Another book club book. I understand why it was lascivious at the time, but god he is an asshole.
Another book club book and also my favorite of the year. Clearly book club is the only that still has me reading!
